Accessory Rail Assembly for Firearms

ABSTRACT

An accessory rail assembly includes an accessory rail and mounting members that can be mounted to the accessory rail in a variety of rotational and axial orientations.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field is related to an accessory rail mounting system formounting accessories to firearms.

BACKGROUND

Accessory mounting systems for firearms are known. Typical accessorymounting systems are supported on a top surface of the firearm, and areadapted to mount devices such as optical sights. Conventional accessorymounting systems do not, however, provide a mounting platform forvarious type and size firearm accessories to be mounted at the sides ofthe firearm.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the accessory railassembly comprises an elongate accessory rail that can be mounted to afirearm. The accessory rail assembly can include one or more mountingfeatures that allow accessories to be mounted at a top surface of theaccessory rail. One or more mounting members also can be releasablyattached to one or both sides of the accessory rail to provideadditional mounting platforms for firearm accessories.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the mounting members canbe mounted to the accessory rail in a variety of axial and rotationalorientations. The large number of mounting configurations for themounting members provides additional flexibility in mounting accessoriesto the firearm.

Examples of accessories that can be mounted on the accessory railassembly include optical sights and other optical devices, targetilluminators, etc.

Other aspects, features, and details of the embodiments of the presentinvention can be more completely understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description of preferred embodiments, taken inconjunction with the drawings figures and from the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

According to common practice, the various features of the drawingsdiscussed below are not necessarily drawn to scale. Dimensions ofvarious features and elements in the drawings may be expanded or reducedto more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an accessory rail assemblyhaving modular mounting members according to a first embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a mounting member of the accessory railassembly illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the accessory rail assembly with themounting members oriented in a first configuration.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the accessory rail assembly with themounting members oriented in a second configuration.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the accessory rail assembly mounted to afirearm and with an accessory mounted on a rear portion of the accessoryrail.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the accessory rail assembly mounted to afirearm with multiple accessories mounted on the accessory railassembly.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the accessory rail assembly mounted to afirearm and with an accessory mounted on a rear portion of the accessoryrail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The accessory rail assembly according to the present embodimentsgenerally relates to a platform for attaching a variety of accessoriesat upper and side portions of a firearm. The firearm can be, forexample, a rifle, a shotgun or other long gun, and can be gas-actuated,inertia-actuated, semiautomatic, pump action, bolt action, etc. Theaccessory rail assembly allows mounting of a series of different typeand configuration accessories such as, for example, stand alone in-lineclip-on night vision systems, optical scopes, targetpointer/illuminators (TPIAL) such as Mil Spec AN/PEQ-2 or AN/PEQ-4,white light illumination devices, as well AS other devices. Theaccessory rail assembly may be used, for example, with Remington700-based firearms such as, for example, the M24 sniper rifle, the M24A2sniper rifle, the M24A3 long range sniper system, the Urban Sniper Rifle700P, and the Light Tactical Rifle (LTR).

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the individual components of afirst example embodiment of an accessory rail assembly 100 according tothe principles of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view ofa modular mounting member 80 of the accessory rail assembly 100.Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the accessory rail assembly 100 generallyincludes an elongate accessory rail 10 and one or more mounting members80 that are attachable to the sides of the accessory rail 10 in avariety of axial and rotational orientations. Examples of the accessoryrail assembly 100 with various accessories mounted thereto areillustrated in FIGS. 5-7.

Referring to FIG. 1, the accessory rail 10 generally is divided into afront portion 12, a medial portion 14, and a rear portion 16. The frontportion 12 comprises a front multi-slot mounting portion 20 having aplurality of spaced, transversely or laterally extending rails 22separated by slots 23 at an upper surface of the rail 10. Thealternating rails 22 and slots 23 may have the configuration of aPicatinny rail mounting system (MIL-STD-1913) and provide a platform forfirearm accessories to be mounted at a front end of the accessory rail10. The front portion 12 of the accessory rail 10 further can have afirst contoured undersurface 54 that may be designed to generallyconform to the exterior contour of an upper surface of a firearm towhich the assembly 100 is to be mounted. For example, if the uppersurface of the firearm is generally cylindrical, such as at the surfaceof a firearm barrel, the undersurface 54 can be concave cylindrical inshape.

The medial portion 14 includes modular mounting recesses 30 located oneach side of the medial portion 14. The mounting recesses 30 areelongate recesses extending longitudinally or axially through each sideof the accessory rail 10. A plurality of axially spaced transversemounting apertures 32 extend through the accessory rail 10 and terminateat the mounting recesses 30 on either side of the accessory rail 10.Each mounting aperture 32 can be, for example, formed from a single boreextending through the accessory rail 10, or as a blind bore extendingfrom a mounting recess 30 into and partly through the sides of theaccessory rail 10. The mounting recesses 30 serve as seats foraccommodating the mounting members 80. The side mounting recesses 30 maybe, for example, longitudinally extending stepped depressions milledinto the sides of the accessory rail 10. The medial portion 14 of theaccessory rail 10 may have a generally flat or planar upper surface 15.The first contoured undersurface 54 of the front portion 12 may extendto a second contoured undersurface 56 (shown in FIG. 3) of the medialportion 14.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the mounting members 80 can have mountingprojections 88 sized and shaped to be accommodated within and to slidelongitudinally or axially within the mounting recesses 30. Each mountingmember 80 includes a pair of spaced mounting apertures 82 that arespaced a distance selected to correspond to the spacing betweenassociated pairs of the mounting apertures 32 in the mounting recesses30. The series of spaced mounting apertures 32 in the accessory rail 10allow the mounting members 80 to be mounted at several axial positionsin the mounting recesses 30 along the length of the rail 10. Themounting members 80 may be secured in the mounting recesses 30 byattachment members 94 threaded through the mounting apertures 82 andinto the apertures 32 extending through the accessory rail 10.

Each mounting member 80 includes a multi-slot mounting portion 81comprising spaced transversely or laterally extending rails 84 separatedby slots 85. The alternating rails 84 and slots 85 may have theconfiguration of a Picatinny rail mounting system (MIL-STD-1913) andprovide a platform for firearm accessories to be mounted at the sides ofa firearm. Each mounting member 80 includes a base portion 90 and anextension portion 92, with a curved relief surface 86 extending betweenthe base portion 90 and the extension portion 92. As shown in FIG. 1,the mounting members 80 can be rotated so that the extension portions 92point toward either end of the accessory rail 10.

The rear portion 16 (FIG. 3) of the accessory rail 10 includes a rearmulti-slot mounting portion 40 having a plurality of axially spaced,transversely or laterally extending rails 42 separated by slots 43 at anupper surface of the rail 10. The alternating rails 42 and slots 43 mayhave the configuration of a Picatinny rail mounting system(MIL-STD-1913) and provide a platform for firearm accessories to bemounted at a rear end of the accessory rail 10. Pairs of mountingapertures 44, 46 may extend vertically through the rear portion 16 ofthe accessory rail 10. Threaded attachment members 50 can be advancedthrough the mounting apertures 44, 46 and secured to an upper surface ofa firearm to secure the accessory rail 10 to the firearm. A recoil pin58 may be mounted at the underside of the rear portion 16, and may bepositioned to bear against the inside of a forward portion of a firearmreceiver. The recoil pin 58 minimizes the firing recoil impulsetransmitted to accessories mounted on the accessory rail assembly 100.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the mounting members 80 mounted in differingorientations in the side modular mounting recesses 30. According to oneaspect of the invention, the mounting members 80 can be rotated suchthat the extension portions 92 face toward either the front or the rearof the firearm to which the accessory rail 10 is mounted. The pluralityof spaced mounting apertures 32 also allow the mounting members 80 toassume differing axial locations along the length of the accessory rail10. The large number of possible rotational and axial orientations ofthe mounting members 80 allows accessories to be attached to the firearmvia the mounting members 80 in a large number of orientations, whichincreases the versatility and utility of the firearm to which theaccessory rail assembly 100 is attached. If desired, the mountingmembers 80 may be identical, so that the members 80 can be madeinterchangeable. The mounting members 80 may also be wholly or partiallyasymmetric with respect to a bisecting plane extending through a centerof the mounting members 80 (e.g., a plane extending through andbisecting both mounting apertures 82). This feature allows the mountingmembers 80 to assume a larger number of configurations on the accessoryrail 10.

As also shown in FIG. 3, a clearance recess 62 can be milled orotherwise formed in the lower surface of the rear portion 16 of theaccessory rail 10. The clearance recess 62 may be formed to allow foraccess to the chamber of a firearm or to other firearm components, toallow for cartridge ejection from the firearm firing chamber, and forother purposes.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the accessory rail assembly 100 mountedto a firearm F and with an accessory A1 mounted on the rear multi-slotmounting portion 40 of the accessory rail 10. Two mounting members 80are mounted to sides of the accessory rail 10. The exemplary accessoryA1 is a rifle scope having a mounting device M1 that mates with orotherwise engages the transverse rails 42 and slots 43 of the rearmulti-slot mounting portion 40. The mounting device M1 may be of a knownconfiguration, such as, for example, a mounting device used in a 1913Picatinny rail mounting system (MIL-STD-1913), and may be designed tomate securely with the rails 42 and slots 43. The axial position of theaccessory A1 along the accessory rail 10 may therefore be determined byengagement of the mounting device M1 with selected ones of the axiallyspaced, transverse rails 42 and slots 43. One or both of the mountingmembers 80 may be mounted in respective mounting recesses 30 in anydesired axial position along the recesses 30, with the extensionportions 92 facing either toward the barrel B or the receiver R.

An exemplary method of mounting the accessory rail assembly 100 to afirearm F will now be discussed with reference to FIGS. 1-5. Theaccessory rail assembly 100 may be mounted to the firearm F by firstcleaning upper mounting surfaces on the firearm F. The undersurfaces 56,60 (FIG. 3) of the accessory rail 10 may also be cleaned. An alcohol oracetone-based solvent, for example, can be used for cleaning thecontacting surfaces. An adhesive material, such as LOCTITE®, forexample, additionally can be applied to the undersurfaces 56, 60 of theaccessory rail 10. The rear portion 16 of the accessory rail 10 is thenplaced on an upper surface of the firearm F, such as at the uppersurface of the firearm receiver R, so that the undersurfaces 56, 60 ofthe accessory rail 10 are adhered thereto. Attachment members 50 arethen threaded downwardly through the mounting apertures 44, 46 in theaccessory rail 10 and further advanced into corresponding threadedmounting apertures (not shown) in the firearm F. The recoil pin 58 maybe mounted to bear against the inside of the forward portion of thefirearm receiver R. When the accessory rail assembly 100 is mounted asshown in FIG. 5, the clearance recess 62 is located above an ejectionport P in the receiver R to provide clearance for ejected shell casingsduring firing.

After securing the accessory rail 10 to the firearm F, the mountingmembers 80 may be secured to the accessory rail 10 by threading theattachment members 94 (FIG. 1) through the mounting apertures 82 in themembers 80 and into the mounting apertures 32 in the accessory rail 10.The mounting members 80 can be mounted to the accessory rail 10 in alarge number of axial and rotational orientations and therefore provideversatile mounting platforms by which accessories can be mounted at thesides of the firearm F. Aiming light accessories such as, for example,AN-PEQ-2A, white light illuminators such as weapons flashlights, andvisible laser systems can be mounted to the mounting members 80 beforeor after the mounting members are attached to the accessory rail 10.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the accessory rail assembly 100mounted to a firearm F, with the rifle scope A1 mounted in the rearmulti-slot mounting portion 40, and a second accessory A2 mounted at thefront of the accessory rail assembly 100. The exemplary second accessoryA2 includes a mounting device M2 that engages the rails 22 and slots 23of the front multi-slot mounting portion 20. The mounting device M2 maybe of a known configuration, such as a mounting device used in a 1913Picatinny rail mounting system (MIL-STD-1913). One exemplary accessoryA2, as shown in FIG. 6, is a Universal Night Sight® (UNS®) (Mil SpecAN/PVS-22, available from Optical Systems Technology) mounted for use inconjunction with the scope A1.

FIG. 7 illustrates the accessory rail assembly 100 mounted to a firearmF and with an exemplary third accessory A3 mounted in the rearmulti-slot mounting portion 40 of the accessory rail assembly 100. Theexemplary accessory A3, shown in FIG. 7, is a Leupold and Stevens Mark 4M3 LR/T 3.5-10X variable power day optic, although other accessoriesalso can be used.

According to the above-described embodiments, accessories can be mountedto firearms in a large number of configurations. For example, theaccessory rail assembly 100 allows accessories to be mounted at an uppersurface and along the sides of a firearm. The mounting members 80 can bemounted to the accessory rail 10 in a variety of rotational and axialorientations, allowing for a variety of custom accessory arrangements.Examples of firearm accessories that may be attached to the mountingmembers 80 include laser illuminators, white light illuminators, slingmounts, and other items.

The attachment members 50, 94 used for assembling and mounting theaccessory rail assembly 100 can be of any type or form suitable forattaching individual members together. For example, the attachmentmembers 50, 94 can be threaded screws. The screws can be, for example,hex head screws or other types of screws. A threaded insert may beincluded in any of the mounting apertures disclosed in thisspecification.

The exemplary multi-slot mounting portions 20, 40, 81 illustrated in thespecification may correspond to the 1913 Picatinny rail mounting system.Other rail/slot mounting arrangements may also be incorporated in themounting portions 20, 40, 81.

The firearm F may be, for example, a gas actuated or semiautomatic longgun, a pump action shotgun, a gas actuated rifle, an inertia actionfirearm, a bolt action firearm, or other type of firearm. The accessoryrail assembly 100 can be configured to work with either long and shortaction models and may be adapted as degreed models for long rangesystems.

The components of the accessory rail assembly 100 can be made from, forexample, conventional durable, high strength materials including metals,such as aluminum, hardened steel, composites, and other materials.

The foregoing description of the invention illustrates and describes thepresent invention. Additionally, the disclosure shows and describes onlyselected embodiments of the invention, but it is to be understood thatthe invention is capable of use in various other combinations,modifications, and environments and is capable of changes ormodifications within the scope of the inventive concept as expressedherein, commensurate with the above teachings, and/or within the skillor knowledge of the relevant art.

1. An accessory rail assembly, comprising: an elongated accessory railhaving at least one side mounting feature and at least one multi-slotmounting portion on a top surface of the accessory rail, the at leastone multi-slot mounting portion being adapted to mount a firearmaccessory; and at least one mounting member, the at least one mountingmember being adapted for removable attachment to the at least one sidemounting feature and having a multi-slot mounting portion, themulti-slot mounting portion being adapted to mount a firearm accessoryalong a side of the accessory rail when the at least one mounting memberis mounted in the at least one side mounting feature.
 2. The accessoryrail assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one side mounting featurecomprises at least one mounting aperture formed in a side surface of theaccessory rail.
 3. The accessory rail assembly of claim 2, wherein eachmounting member comprises at least one mounting aperture.
 4. Theaccessory rail assembly of claim 3, further comprising at least oneattachment member sized to be received in the at least one mountingaperture in the accessory rail and the at least one mounting aperture inthe at least one mounting member.
 5. The accessory rail assembly ofclaim 3, wherein each mounting aperture in the at least one mountingmember extends substantially through the mounting member in which it isformed.
 6. The accessory rail assembly of claim 1, wherein the at leastone mounting member comprises a plurality of mounting members.
 7. Theaccessory rail assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one sidemounting feature comprises a first side mounting feature formed in afirst side of the accessory rail and a second side mounting featureformed in a second side of the accessory rail.
 8. The accessory railassembly of claim 7, wherein the at least one multi-slot mountingportion on a top surface of the accessory rail comprises a frontmulti-slot mounting portion at a front of the accessory rail and a rearmulti-slot mounting portion at a rear of the accessory rail.
 9. Theaccessory rail assembly of claim 7, wherein the at least one mountingmember comprises a plurality of mounting members each comprising a baseportion and an extension portion extending away from the base portion.10. An accessory rail assembly, comprising: an elongated accessory rail,comprising: a first side mounting feature on a first side of theaccessory rail; a second side mounting feature on a second side of theaccessory rail; and at least one multi-slot mounting portion on a topsurface of the accessory rail, the multi-slot mounting portion beingadapted to mount a firearm accessory; and a first mounting memberadapted for removable attachment to the side mounting features andhaving a first multi-slot mounting portion, the first multi-slotmounting portion being adapted to mount a firearm accessory at eitherside of the accessory rail when the first mounting member is mounted inone of the side mounting features.
 11. The accessory rail assembly ofclaim 10, wherein the first mounting feature comprises a plurality offirst side mounting apertures in the first side of the accessory rail.12. The accessory rail assembly of claim 11, wherein the second mountingfeature comprises a plurality of second side mounting apertures in thesecond side of the accessory rail.
 13. The accessory rail assembly ofclaim 10, wherein the at least one multi-slot mounting portion on a topsurface of the accessory rail comprises a front multi-slot mountingportion at a front of the accessory rail and a rear multi-slot mountingportion at a rear of the accessory rail.
 14. The accessory rail assemblyof claim 10, wherein each mounting member includes at least one mountingaperture.
 15. The accessory rail assembly of claim 14, wherein eachmounting member comprises a base portion and an extension portionextending away from the base portion.
 16. A method of mountingaccessories to a firearm, comprising: providing a firearm comprising areceiver and a barrel; mounting an accessory rail to an upper surface ofthe firearm, the accessory rail comprising: a first side mountingfeature along a first side of the accessory rail; a second side mountingfeature at a second side of the accessory rail; and at least onemulti-slot mounting portion at a top surface of the accessory rail, themulti-slot mounting portion being adapted to mount a firearm accessory;providing a plurality of mounting members; mounting one of the mountingmembers at the first side mounting feature; mounting one of the mountingmembers at the second side mounting feature; and mounting a firearmaccessory to each mounting member.
 17. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising mounting an optical device to the at least one multi-slotmounting portion on a top surface of the accessory rail.
 18. The methodof claim 16, wherein the at least one multi-slot mounting portion on atop surface of the accessory rail comprises a front multi-slot mountingportion at a front of the accessory rail and a rear multi-slot mountingportion at a rear of the accessory rail.
 19. The method of claim 18,further comprising mounting an optical device to the at least onemulti-slot mounting portion on a top surface of the accessory rail. 20.The method of claim 16, wherein each mounting member comprises a sidemulti-slot mounting portion.
 21. A method of mounting accessories to afirearm, comprising: providing a firearm comprising a receiver and abarrel; mounting an accessory rail to an upper surface of the firearm,the accessory rail comprising: a first side mounting feature at a firstside of the accessory rail; and at least one mounting portion at a topsurface of the accessory rail, the mounting portion being adapted tomount a firearm accessory; providing at least one mounting member;mounting the at least one mounting member at the first side mountingfeature of the accessory rail; and mounting a firearm accessory to theat least one mounting member.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the atleast one mounting portion at the top surface of the accessory railcomprises a front multi-slot mounting portion at a front of theaccessory rail and a rear multi-slot mounting portion at a rear of theaccessory rail.
 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising mountinga first optical device to the front multi-slot mounting portion.
 24. Themethod of claim 23, further comprising mounting a second optical deviceto the rear multi-slot mounting portion.
 25. The method of claim 21,wherein mounting the at least one mounting member at the first sidemounting feature comprises securing the at least one mounting member tothe accessory rail using at least one threaded attachment device. 26.The method of claim 21, wherein the at least one mounting membercomprises a multi-slot mounting portion.
 27. The method of claim 21,wherein the at least one mounting member occupies a first axial positionat the first side mounting feature of the accessory rail.
 28. The methodof claim 27, further comprising: removing the at least one mountingmember from the first side mounting feature of the accessory rail; andmounting the at least one mounting member at the first side mountingfeature of the accessory rail in a second axial position.
 29. The methodof claim 21, wherein the at least one mounting member occupies a firstrotational orientation with respect to the accessory rail.
 30. Themethod of claim 29, further comprising: removing the at least onemounting member from the first side mounting feature of the accessoryrail; and mounting the at least one mounting member at the first sidemounting feature of the accessory rail in a second rotationalorientation with respect to the accessory rail.